California State University Northridge Athletics
California State University at Northridge
UCLA
Matadors Open Home Season vs. No. 2 UCLA, UC Merced
1/8/2019 8:00:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
MATADORS THIS WEEK
MATCH #4:
No. 2 UCLA Bruins (2-0) @ No. 12Â CSUN Matadors (2-1)
Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2019Â - 7:00 p.m. PT
The Matadome - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats
Big West TV
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
MATCH #5:
UC Merced Bobcats (0-0) @ No. 12Â CSUN Matadors (2-1)
Friday, Jan. 11, 2019Â - 7:00 p.m. PT
The Matadome - Northridge, Calif.
Live Stats
Big West TV
In-game Twitter updates:Â @CSUNMensVB
FORÂ STARTERS
CSUN men's volleyball (2-1, 0-0 Big West) opens the 2019 home season this week, hosting second-ranked UCLA (2-0) and UC Merced (0-0) in non-conference matches. The Matadors, ranked 12th in the latest AVCA Coaches Top-15 Poll, take on the Bruins Wednesday at 7 p.m. followed by a Friday match with the UCM Bobcats, also at 7 p.m. Both matches will take place in The Matadome on the CSUN campus.
Last week, the Matadors took two of three matches at the UCSB Asics Invitational in Santa Barbara, defeating No. 12 Concordia (3-1) and Harvard (3-2) before falling in five sets to No. 14 Grand Canyon.
FOLLOW YOUR MATADORS ONLINE
Follow CSUN Matadors volleyball on-line at the official home of CSUN athletics, www.GoMatadors.com. All home matches will feature live stats and will be streamed live by the CSUN Sports Network presented by Dignity Health via Big West TV. 11Â Matador home matches will feature a webcast with Darren Preston handling the play-by-play while Randy Rosenbloom will call Wednesday's match against UCLA. For road matches, related links to the match, including for any live stats, audio and video, will be posted before the match on the men's volleyball schedule page of GoMatadors.com.Â
Fans are also encouraged to check the CSUN Athletics Department's official Twitter feed (@GoMatadors) and the volleyball-specific feed (@CSUNMensVB) for news and notes throughout the week as well as updates of matches in progress.
MATADORS SLIP TOÂ 12THÂ IN JAN. 7 AVCAÂ COACHES TOP-15 POLL
After winning two of three matches at the UCSB Asics Invitational, CSUN slipped one spot from 11th to 12th in this week's AVCA Div. I Coaches Top-15 Poll released Jan. 7. The Matadors earned 51 points this week, down 13 points from the Preseason Coaches Poll. CSUN has now been ranked in the AVCA Top-15 for 48 consecutive weeks and 248 of the last 274 weekly polls dating back to the 2002 season.
Long Beach State (3-0) received all 16 first place votes in the week one poll and are ranked number one for the second straight week. UCLA (2-0) is second followed in the top five by UC Irvine (2-0), Hawai'i (0-0), BYU (0-0) and Pepperdine (2-0) which are tied for fifth. Ohio State (2-0) is seventh this week followed in the top 10 by Loyola-Chicago (1-1), Lewis (1-1) and UC Santa Barbara (3-0). Stanford (2-0) is 11th followed by the Matadors, Purdue Fort Wayne (2-0), Ball State (2-0) and Grand Canyon (1-2).
SCOUTING REPORTS
UCLA: The second-ranked Bruins (2-0), who open a three-match road trip Wednesday, opened up the 2019 season with a 3-0 sweep over Princeton and a four-set win over UC San Diego. UCLA returns a pair of 2018 first-team AVCA All-America selections in setter Micah Ma'a and middle blocker Daenan Gyimah.
UC Merced: Friday is the 2019 season opener for the Bobcats who compete in the six-team GSAC. The conference consists of UC Merced, Menlo College, Hope International University, Arizona Christian University, Ottawa University-Arizona and Benedictine University at Mesa. The Bobcats finished 2018 with a 14-10 overall record.
SERIES STORIESÂ
Wednesday's match is the 86th meeting all-time between CSUN and UCLA with the Bruins holding a commanding 70-14-1 lead in the series. The two teams last met in 2017 when both were members of the MPSF. CSUN won in five at UCLA and the Bruins won in four sets in Northridge. All-time, the Matadors are 5-30 against UCLA in The Matadome. CSUN is unbeaten in two matches with UC Merced, sweeping the Bobcats in both 2017 and 2018.
KALCHEV NAMED ALL-TOURNAMENT; WETTER NETS BIG WEST FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Senior Dimitar Kalchev was named to the UCSB Asics Invitational All-Tournament Team on Saturday while redshirt freshman Daniel Wetter was named the Big West Freshman of the Week on Monday. Kalchev was CSUN's leader in kills in two of the three matches, averaging 3.50 kills per set on .257 hitting. The senior outside hitter also recorded a team-leading eight aces in CSUN's three matches. Wetter was honored as the conference's top freshman this week after hitting .408 with 29 kills (2.09 kps) along with 13 blocks at UCSB.
CSUN AT THE UCSB ASICS INVITATIONAL
By finishing 2-1 at last weekend's UCSB Asics Invitational, CSUN improved its all time record at the tournament to 50-31 (.617). Saturday's loss to Grand Canyon snapped a streak of 11 straight wins dating back to 2015. The Matadors' last loss at the tournament came to Princeton in five sets.
CSUN has now played in the tournament 21 times since 1996. The Matadors did not participate in either 2001 or 2002. CSUN won its first-ever tournament championship in 2009 after upsetting No. 2 UCLA (3-1) and defeating No. 14 UCSB (3-1) and No. 8 Stanford (3-1). The Matadors then won their second straight crown in 2010 topping UCSB (3-1), Cal Baptist (3-1) and BYU (3-1).
MATADOR DEBUTSÂ
The UCSB Asics Invitational saw the collegiate debuts of a host of Matadors. Redshirt freshmen Taylor Ittner, Paul Rzepniewski and Wetter each started two or three matches while sophomore Philip Barker, fellow redshirt freshman Ryan DeWeese and freshman Daniel Minkov came off the bench over the final two matches.
Ittner started all three matches at setter, registering 129 assists (9.21 aps) to go with 20 digs, six blocks and four aces. DeWeese had four kills against Harvard while also totaling four aces including one on match point. Barker notched three kills and four blocks along with his first collegiate ace.Â
KALCHEV CONTINUES TO CLIMB CAREER ACES
Senior outside hitter Dimitar Kalchev added eight service aces to his career tally after the opening weekend of the season. Kalchev opened his final season as a Matador in sole possession of third place on the CSUN career aces list with 152. He now sits at 160 career aces and has achieved his career aces total in just 302 sets over three-plus seasons.
Kalchev, who broke Eric Vance's eight-year record for aces in a single season in 2017 with 63, holds down two spots in the CSUN single season top 10 as he also ranks 10th after serving 45 as a freshman in 2016. With a team-high 10 aces this season, he now trails Vance and second place by 21 aces and CSUN career leader Eckhard Walter by 23.Â
MATADOR QUICK SETSÂ
• CSUN is averaging 11.00 kills per set as a team after three matches while its three opponents averaged 9.57. The Matadors are hitting percentage points higher than their opponents, .220 to .219.Â
• CSUN improved to 26-16 all-time in season openers and come into Wednesday's home opener against UCLA with a record of 29-12 in 41 previous home openers.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following a pair of home matches this week, the Matadors head to the Midwest next week (Jan. 18-19) to take on No. 13 Purdue Fort Wayne and No. 14 Ball State.Â
#GoMatadors
